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Death Wobble at Cruise


Manik
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Ok here goes,at cruise speed when you step on the throttle, no matter what gear your in, the rear of my 95 SE seems to shift to the right a few inches. I don't notice anything below 60 mph. Now for the death wobble. It would seem that a not so flat Texas highway, a heavy right foot, and the side shift issue. The truck starts to shake badly from side to side and stops as soon as I get out of the throttle.. any help on this goofy @$$ issue would be greatly appreciated. All of the suspension is factory with the exception of the strut rod bushings...

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Adamzan I believe you nailed it. I climbed under it and was able to move them slightly with the truck sitting on the ground, but noticed that the bolts were not centered in the bushing. They're shot. I found a kit of four from whiteline industries for about $80 on eBay. They're on order and should be here late this week.

 

 

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While you are under there, check out your driveline U joints, if they are binding under load it will promote a wobble as well that shot bushings will only amplify.

 

B

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Will do. The wife is kinda beside herself cuz she thought we were finished buying parts.

 

 

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There's no vibration in the driveline at all, that's noticeable anyway. I've got the bushings on order hopefully they'll be here by the weekend.

 

 

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Ok, that is good and ruled out then.

 

The wife is kinda beside herself cuz she thought we were finished buying parts.

Cool, then you have twins to play with... :sly:

:lmao:

 

In reality, tell her that cars, houses, etc only get worn from use and break down from neglect. There is no changing that other than having a constant car payment because you trade it in every few years and never have work done on it. In the long run, the Pathfinder will be far cheaper... ;)

 

B

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Had that discussion. Informed her that this is a helluva lot cheaper than buying a new car that will depreciate as soon as it's driven off the lot. The conversation didn't last long when her and my oldest agreed with me, both for a change. ::big grin:: argument won!

 

 

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Plus, at this point after spinning a wrench on my pathy pretty much since the day I bought it, the only parts I haven't had a need to go into have been the manual trans and rear diff ::crossing my fingers::

 

 

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Honestly, sounds like you got a beat up one but once you get it sorted out, it should be quite reliable.

As for the manual trans and rear end, as long as you have overfilled that tranny with GL-4 ONLY with 5.1 liters, it should hold together a long time. The rear end is considered stronger than a Dana 44 so again, fluids and don't worry...

 

 

Had that discussion. argument won!

I like to think of it as an educating discussion... :D

We have 2 Pathfinders amongst 5 cars and 2 motorcycles, with nary a payment. They might not all be running/registered/insured at once, but that isn't the point... :D

Buy good used, do the work yourself and enjoy the benefits.

 

B

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Bushings replaced, lower trailing arms back in and issues resolved, but, I did find that the uppers a pretty worn, so their next. It'll be a couple of weeks, but, for now, all is well.

 

 

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Just so you know, you will NEVER be done buying parts. Same thing happened with me. Car shopping, got mine for $900. It was ugly, has so many holes in the underbelly my wife puked on the drive home. I have spent every spare minute since buying mine patching, fixing, and cursing. It still isn't 100% or even close. I get one thing fixed and immediately there is another issue. It will never end I am afraid.

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Well, mine isn't quite that bad mike. The body and chassis are in pretty decent shape. It's just the usual parts that wear out over time and considering that I don't "baby" anything I drive, it's just typical wear. I will say though that this thing is on engine #3 now, but, I'm the only one that drives it now and have also been the only one wrenching on it, so, for now, she's in pretty decent shape. There are more suspension components that need to be replaced, but, not hard stuff, just time consuming. For some god awful reason, I love this truck and as a long term project number one, it's cheaper than a monthly car payment and number two, I can build it like I want it. Benefits, yes, drawbacks, yes, but, I just don't care. It's my toy that I get to thrash daily. Hit mud, trails and the occasional drive to the golf course. So, that said, it's more or less just, I guess you could call it one of my addictions.

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

So what ended up being the problem? Mine is shaking like crazy at about 65-70 mph... I have replaced all bushings under the front end that I can think of... UCA's, sway bar bushings, all toe links, ball joints and strut rod bushings, idler arm... what else is there? The thing that is driving me nuts is the hood is shaking making this awful metal on metal screeching sound.... put some grease on the latch and it helps for about a day but then it comes back...

 

If I drive slower or faster than 65 then its smooth sailing... HELP!

 

Going to try and get the tires rebalanced to see if that helps....

Edited by enkrypt3d
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I would say it's your tires, what tires are you running? Usually speed related shakes are balance related.

BFG KM2's 31x10.5x15... nothing too crazy. I guess it couldn't hurt to get them re-balanced...

 

Any ideas on how to get the hood from squeaking like crazy? Is there supposed to be a plastic or rubber part that covers the U shaped bracket that is on the hood?

Edited by enkrypt3d
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yea the stand offs are at the highest setting... I really wish I could find out what is squeaking!

 

Anyone have any ideas on how to insulate the hood latch and the U shaped bracket? Trying to come up with ideas. Greasing / WD40 doesn't seem to last very long...

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Yea, grease or wd won't last long at all on that bracket. Not enough surface area on the latch or the bracket for anything to stick for any length of time. What I would do and as I recall, I had a similar issue on my '95. I adjusted the hood latch assembly down to where the hood is just under to fenders then adjust your stops on either side of the hood. That should stop the shake and hopefully the squeak as well.

 

 

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The wobble on mine was coming from the rear. It was obvious because at cruise if I went down a gear and throttled it heavy, I could watch the backside shift to the right. Oh yea! Then offending components were the rear trailing arm bushings. Replace all four with poly bushing and this resolved that issue. ::Git"R"Done::

 

 

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I think the squeaking is coming from the top of the hood where it meets the 2 vents... i sprayed the crap out if the area with some silicone lube and its gone for now.. we'll see if that fixed it.

 

I put the stays as far out as they can go but the hood still shakes from side to side.. Still need to get the tires re-balanced.

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